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I’m going to preface my questions with some background information on the topic of synesthesia. This is not a debate of whether it exists or your beliefs on the topic but pertaining to the questions I will ask. It is a very real gift or condition depending on how you view it. I’m placing a variety of definitions so you get a better idea of what I am asking and further reading sites.

An interesting site is here: http://www.mixsig.net/
A little history can be read here: http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Synesthesia
A listing is here: http://www.daysyn.com/Types-of-Syn.html

Synesthesia is an involuntary joining in which the real information of one sense is accompanied by a perception in another sense. In addition to being involuntary, this additional perception is regarded by the synesthete as real, often outside the body, instead of imagined in the mind's eye. It also has some other interesting features that clearly separate it from artistic fancy or purple prose. Its reality and vividness are what make synesthesia so interesting in its violation of conventional perception. Synesthesia is also fascinating because logically it should not be a product of the human brain, where the evolutionary trend has been for increasing separation of function anatomically.
http://web.mit.edu/synesthesia/www/

Some musicians and composers have a form of synesthesia that allows them to "see" music as colors or shapes. This is called chromethesia. Mozart is said to have had this form of synesthesia. He said that the key of D major had a warm "orangey" sound to it, while B-flat minor was blackish. A major was a rainbow of colors to him. This may explain why he wrote some of his music using different colors for different music notes, and why much of his music is in major keys.
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

True neurological synesthesia is involuntary. It is estimated that synesthesia could possibly be as prevalent as 1 in 23 persons across its range of variants (Simner et al. 2006) Synesthesia runs strongly in families, but the precise mode of inheritance has yet to be ascertained. Synesthesia is also sometimes reported by individuals under the influence of psychedelic drugs, after a stroke, or as a consequence of blindness or deafness. Synesthesia that arises from such non-genetic events is referred to as adventitious synesthesia to distinguish it from the more common congenital forms of synesthesia. Adventitious synesthesia involving drugs or stroke (but not blindness or deafness) apparently only involves sensory linkings such as sound → vision or touch → hearing; there are few if any reported cases involving culture-based, learned sets such as graphemes, lexemes, days of the week, or months of the year.
http://www.bionity.com/en/encyclopedia/Synesthesia.html

Synesthesia is a condition in which one type of sensory stimulation creates perception in another sense. By the early 21st century, more than 60 forms of synesthesia had been reported, although a few forms among them were not formally recognized by the American Synesthesia Association, a nonprofit association dedicated to advancing knowledge of synesthesia and facilitating communication between researchers, educators, and synesthetes. The two most common forms of synesthesia are colors associated with graphemes—units (such as single letters or digraphs) of a writing system—and colors associated with days of the week (e.g., “Blue Monday”). Colors associated with sounds, where a person experiences a visual sensation when receiving an auditory signal (for example, hearing the musical tone C and perceiving the color red), is also quite common. Although tone-color relationships are not identical for all people, there are general uniformities: the deeper a musical note, the darker the color. Although less common, similar color perceptions, called photisms, may accompany sensations of taste, touch, pain, smell, or temperature. Other forms of synesthesia include sound-odor, vision-touch, taste-touch, and touch-smell associations. Notable synesthetes are Edgar Allen Poe, Nikola Tesla, Franz Liszt, Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/578457/synesthesia

Since this is considered a condition, do you think that some people who have stated they see auras might be synethetes? That they can pick up on the energy and see it in the form of colors because of having this condition? HEF = colors. Could it be a mistaken idea that this is a psychic ability or rather connected to someone who is a synesthete? Do you have this condition or know anyone who does? Could certain types of this condition be mistaken by some who have never heard of it as psychic ability rather than most likely a sensory condition or both?

I believe whole heatedly that someone experiencing this condition could mislabel it as a psychic ability due to never having heard it identified or explained in an appropriate manner.
I saw a documentary on this a very, very long time ago. It explored several different aspects of this condition but I can barely recall them. The one that stands out the most was...some of the people interviewed claimed that they had the ability to assign tastes to words. Or rather, could taste the words as they spoke them. This could either be pleasant or rather unfortunate, some tasting like chocolate or vanilla...and others tasting rancid and spoiled. This is a very interesting condition, I do not know more on the subject...so this is the extent of what I can contribute to this discussion, but I think this is a very interesting phenomenon. Getting back to the mistaking this for psychic abilities thought, I could see someone mistaking the taste of a person's name for an indication as to what their character may be.

I found this article on this particular topic:

Synesthesia May Explain Healers Claims of Seeing People's 'Aura'

May 4, 2012 — Researchers in Spain have found that at least some of the individuals claiming to see the so-called aura of people actually have the neuropsychological phenomenon known as "synesthesia" (specifically, "emotional synesthesia"). This might be a scientific explanation of their alleged ability.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120504110024.htm

It's a good possibility that this might explain why some say they see auras but I don't know if that is the case for all that claim this ability.

Yes, this would seem like a gift it were to be mistaken to be a psychic ability. How can this be a curse? When the person bestowed with this condition suffers rather than have it under control? I don't know how this can be a curse. Like all other inherent conditions (I do not view this to be a cause of external factors) it is something that the person who has this condition has no control over. The only thing he/she can control is their reaction to it.

If Mozart has done wonders with his condition (no one can truly say for sure that the colours are what they are supposed to be) why can't the rest? I for one, have never found classical music appealing. I just never got it. Has that got to the with colours that he envisioned while making the music? What if the colours are different now, in modern music?

As for words leaving a taste in the mouth... I do not think this has got to do with Synesthesia. It is part of our rationalising mind. when someone spews vulgarities, it would seem to be leaving a bitter/sour/unpleasant taste in the mouth. I guess it would all depend on what sensory organ an individual is tuned to, rather than any random sensory organ. Gifted musicians have a splendid ear for good tunes. Gifted writers have a wonderful way with words... Either by sight or sound. It all depends on the individuals. I have always believed and known that words, our choice of words, would leave an aftertaste. Does that mean I have this condition? I don't think so. There are so much that we have not yet discovered of the Brain. This is just an advancement in our discoveries and knowledge.

Synthenesia is a sensory condition. This condition takes people out of the boundary of the normal senses as we think of them and sort of mixes and matches them in another way. As to whether it is a curse, would depend on the individual and how they felt about it. I am sure from what I have read certain people have been accused of imaginings. But as you can see above, even MIT has taken an interest in the phenomenon. Until I did further research I didn't realize that others had wondered about those that say they see auras as well. There are many articles on that very idea. I've found this to be the case since I posted this information. I know that Nancy Ann Tappe, the original person who had the idea of Indigo Children, which is not what people are touting now, has synthenesia. Some took her theory and made it something else and she has disclaimers about it but it was her idea originally.
http://nancyanntappe.com/

Not everyone has the music/color type of synthenesia and there is a difference by study of how many or the percentage they believe in society.


Synesthesia is involuntary and automatic.
* Synesthetic images are spatially extended, meaning they often have a definite 'location'.
* Synesthetic percepts are consistent and generic (i.e. simple rather than imagistic).
* Synesthesia is highly memorable.
* Synesthesia is laden with affect.

There are various types of synesthesia that one can have. From 175 case histories (finding synesthetic subjects is difficult which leads to small sample sizes), researcher Sean Day has identified 19 different types. They range from the most common, grapheme-color, and sound-color to the least common (which there are five of and only one case of each) sound-odor, temperature-color, taste-touch, touch-smell, and vision-touch. Other reported cases include colored pain, colored sexual orgasms and colored personalities. While nearly every possible combination of experiences is logically possible, not all have been identified.
http://www.lurj.org/article.php/vol2n1/synesthesia.xml
(grapheme: sequence of written symbols such as the alphabet)

Even though they consider vision-touch rare, I have this to a degree. I noticed it over the years but never put a name to it. Did I think it was a psychic ability...no, just a quirk and maybe my imagination like many believe. I'm thinking now that some may indeed have a vision - color type of sythenesia where energy and maybe only the human field is seen in colors. What I am wondering aside from what eastern thought states about them if they are described differently by individuals. I know with other types of this condition the colors are not always the same but the most predictable is the letter A which most see as red. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that the ability to see the aura may be indeed associated to this condition and not a psychic ability or even a gift, just a natural state of some people.

Please feel free to elaborate on your own ideas about this topic further. Thanks for the last post, well thought out.

I have witnessed such sensations while on LSD, and as well a little lesser on Mushrooms. I think science does a good job of presenting the anomaly. Like all things once excepted as "proof" of "psychic phenomena" it was just one of the last hurdles to dissolve, and be dispelled.

It is possible, although most parents would have picked up on the condition within their children at an early age. I know that I had tests to determine the levels at which I picked up on synesthesia as a child.

That's interesting to know. You are the first person I have heard state that but obviously some do get tested as children. I would think more to do with grapheme-color than anything else though. Actually a number of them could be spotted depending on things children said. I doubt they have any way to tell really about the energy field and colors or that anyone would really mention it, but one never knows. I just know that others besides myself have wondered about it. Not to discount psychic abilities. I leave that for each person to decide. Thanks for the comment.